This year's Olympic skaters are taking the sport to astonishing heights. They'll fight for medals in the men's, ladies', pairs and ice-dancing events, and the 10 strongest countries will also compete in the team event.

Here's a guide on which skaters to watch, and what makes each so extraordinary:

Interesting factoid: Chen, who originally wanted to play hockey, was landing triple jumps when he was 10. That year, when asked which Olympics we would see him in, the young boy predicted: "2018."

YUZURU HANYU, JAPAN

Why he's phenomenal: He's the reigning Olympic champ and holds the world record for the highest total score in a competition -- 330.43. That's like a basketball team scoring 150 points. Or a football team scoring 11 touchdowns in a game. It's kinda obscene.

Interesting factoid: Hanyu's scrambling to recover from a nasty injury in November, when he wiped out on a quad lutz (the most difficult quad jump in history) and damaged a ligament in his right ankle -- the same ankle he lands on.

Interesting factoid: At 28, Rippon is a decade older than his two US men's teammates. He explained his longevity after he won the 2016 US championships: "I'm like a witch, and you can't kill me. I keep coming back every year, and every year I get better."

Interesting factoid: Neither of them are actually from Germany. Savchenko is from Ukraine and got German citizenship so she could compete with her ex-partner. But after he retired, Savchenko searched for a new partner and found a perfect match in Massot -- a Frenchman who, in turn, had to get German citizenship to go to the Olympics with her.

Why they're phenomenal: Sui and Han have nailed both a quad twist and a throw quad salchow. And just one year after Sui had surgery on both feet, she and her partner won the world championships, skating to "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Interesting factoid: They were coached by Yao Bin, who basically pioneered skating in China. But Yao and his partner were so bad, they were laughed at by audience members and often finished dead-last. Three decades later, Coach Yao's enjoying the last laugh -- his pairs teams have won five Olympic medals. Sui and Han could be next.

LADIES

ALINA ZAGITOVA, RUSSIA

Why she's phenomenal: This 15-year-old prodigy has been undefeated this season, even toppling two-time world champion Evgenia Medvedeva.

Interesting factoid: Zagitova is known for "backloading" her programs, or putting virtually all her jumps in the second half to get 10% bonuses. It's a controversial technique -- critics say it makes programs woefully unbalanced. But the results speak for themselves.

EVGENIA MEDVEDEVA, RUSSIA

Why she's phenomenal: She went undefeated for two years -- until Zagitova showed up. But Medvedeva, 18, still holds the world records for most points in both the short and long programs.

Why she's phenomenal: Tennell apparently has a special contract with gravity, as it seems impossible for her to fall down. While she doesn't have the artistry of some of her competitors, her reliable jumping makes her Team USA's best answer to the Russian teenage super jumpers.

Interesting factoid: Tennell shattered everyone's expectations by winning last month's US championships (after finishing ninth last year). She may have sent a message with her music choices: her short program is set to South Korean music, and her long program is "Cinderella."